The comparison is improper, one might say, but still as opposed to another competitive water sport sailing, the development of talent in rowing sport, popular since many decades in Tamil Nadu – before sailing – has been rather slow, if not really feeble. In fact, a few potential talents in rowing sport have also taken seriously to sailing, which has been steadily developing since 2010 backed by the emergence of young talents in Chennai.
The rowing sport too has been seeing the rise of a few promising talents. Two of them showing good promise are Chennai’s Tamilselvi and Ross Meril. Their talent came to the fore in the Khelo India Games, according to Rowing Federation of India ( RFI) official Balaji Mardappa.
Talking to Madras Musings, Ross, daughter of a fisherman, narrated her rowing journey. Says the rower, “I started in this sport in 2019 when I was in Class 11. My hometown is Kanyakumari. I came to Chennai to attend trials for selection to Khelo India Games. I was selected along with a few others, based on my height and weight. I attended a three-day physical assessment camp and got selected for the Khelo India selection camp. That’s how I happened to take to rowing seriously.”
Ross has now been in rowing sport for six years. And, after the COVID pandemic lockdown, in 2022 she bagged her first medal at the national level, which spurred her to develop a passion for competitive rowing, with high motivation from coach and senior administrator in this sport Balaji.
Tamilselvi (left) and Ross in the boat.
“She is very dedicated. We are confident that she, along with the other promising rower Tamilselvi, will make it to the forthcoming National championships camp,” says Balaji, himself a rower and also joint secretary of Tamil Nadu Olympic Association (TNOA). Balaji has been coaching Ross after her regular coach left. Pointing out that a strong point of Ross and Tamilselvi is their great dedication to the sport, Balaji says “if everything goes as we see, Ross and Tamilselvi can also be expected to represent India in Asian rowing championships next year.” I only wish that some corporate entity comes forward to adopt talents like Ross and Tamilselvi who are willing to train hard and succeed against all odds. In fact, recently IIS had come forward to tie-up with Rowing Federation of India (RFI) to support the development of women’s rowing in the country. We hope Ross and Tamilselvi also are taken into that, or the new rowing centre which is coming up at Bellary in Karnataka,” Balaji says.
Narrating her progress in big competitions, Ross says “So far, I have won eight national medals and three National Games Medals. I have also had the honour of representing India in the rowing World Cup competition in Poznan-Poland, the 19th Asian Games in China, the Asian championships in Thailand and the World University championships in the Netherlands.”
Twenty-two-year old S. Tamilselvi, who is pursuing Master’s Degree in Sport Psychology, has been in rowing sports since 2018. Like Ross, Tamilselvi was also picked for selection to compete in Khelo India Games. She was selected, and then began her love for this tough sport. “It soon turned into passion. Initially it was tough, but every session on the water made me feel stronger and more connected to rowing,” she explains, adding that her coach and Tamil Nadu Amateur Rowing Association (TARA), noticing her potential, had constantly motivated her.
Tamilselvi’s first national competition in rowing was in 2019. Then she progressed further, recovering from a big setback of compression fracture in her spinal cord. “After two months of rehabilitation, and another month of good training, I came back through the Senior national championships in 2022. I won my first medal – a bronze. And overcoming a few back problems again, I went on to win eight national medals, two National Games medals and two All India University medals. Another high point in my career was representing India at the World University Games in 2024,” she recalls.
Tamilselvi attributes the better development of sailing sport vis-a-vis rowing to the fact that Chennai being a costal city has access to the sea and yacht clubs, therefore better infrastructure plus greater public awareness about sailing. “One of the biggest challenges the rowing sport development faces in Tamil Nadu is lack of proper facilities. The fact that we train on 500 metre lakes in Tamil Nadu limits our ability to simulate real race conditions while training,” Tamilselvi explains.